Lipnitskaya said she missed Cup of China victory ceremony because she got mixed over dates

Yulia Lipnitskaya

MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. Russian figure-skater Yulia Lipnitskaya missed the victory ceremony of the ISU Grand Prix Cup of China tournament, held in Shanghai, because she had got mixed over dates, the Russian Figure-Skating Federation said quoting Lipnitskaya as saying.

The International Skating Union (ISU) has fined Russian Olympic champion in figure skating Yulia Lipnitskaya after she failed to attend the award ceremony at the Cup of China last week, ISU Vice President David Dore said on Monday.

Lipnitskaya, who won her first Olympic gold at the age of 15 this year at the Winter Games in Sochi, was leading in China in ladies singles after the short program, but made some mistakes during her free skate program and as a result was left with the silver medal, while the gold went to her compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

Lipnitskaya then decided not to show up at the awarding ceremony and Tuktamysheva was on the pedestal jointly with Japan’s Kanako Murakami, who won the bronze medal of the competition.

“Yes, she was fined,” Dore said. “The regulations state boldly that the participation in the awarding ceremony is obligatory. Moreover, the administration of the teams always warn about it before the start of each competition, including about the consequences for the failure to attend.”

According to rules of figure skating Grand Prix events, a skater is fined for the failure to attend the awarding ceremony by cutting part of his or her prize money. Lipnitskaya earned $13,000 in prize money for the second place, however, Dore refused to name the exact amount of fine imposed on the 16-year-old Russian figure skater.

“I do not know what happened. Nothing really worked. This was probably the worst skate of my life,” European Champion Lipnitskaya was quoted as saying on the ISU website after her performance in China.